“Our property tax relief package is built on the belief that the best property tax relief is given directly to people who pay property taxes: home and business owners,” Davids said Monday during a State Capitol press conference. The Davids plan provides an approximately 18 percent cut in the statewide property tax burden for Greater Minnesota commercial/industrial properties, and a 4 percent reduction for metro area commercial/industrial properties.

The 2012 Property Tax Relief Package has two parts, each focusing separately on homeowners and businesses.

The homeowners’ portion prioritized homeowners who saw their local property taxes rise by 12 percent or more in Tax Year 2012. For those homeowners, the plan increases the percentage of property taxes the state refunds from the current 60 percent to 90 percent. It also increases the maximum refund available to already eligible homeowners by 20 percent.

“This will provide direct relief to homeowners who were hit especially hard by local property tax increases,” Davids said.

The business property tax package is directed toward small businesses to exclude the first $100,000 in the value of commercial/industrial property from the statewide property tax. This would reduce the tax liability of all C/I property, but is structured in a way that benefits small businesses the most.

“This plan would benefit small businesses more than a straight reduction in the statewide rate,” Davids said. “The governor vetoed our straight reduction in the 2011 session, so I’m hoping he will consider is this new approach to be more to his liking.” The second part of the business property tax relief plan freezes the statewide property tax levy. The plan does not affect local government funding or property tax calculations.